For his first studio recording with his colorful big band, Don Ellis utilized five trumpets, three trombones, five reeds, Mike Lang on keyboards, three bassists, drummer Steve Bohannon, and three percussionists to perform some remarkable new music. The most memorable selection is "Indian Lady" (accurately described as a "hoedown in 5/4"), which with its false endings is often quite humorous. The other four originals (the trumpeter-leader's feature on "Alone," "Turkish Bath," "Open Beauty," and the 17/4 "New Horizons"), while lesser-known, are also quite spirited. For the first time Ellis opened his band to the influence of rock (making liberal use of electronics) and the results lend themselves to some hilarity.

The last album by Don Ellis' big band before the trumpeter suffered a heart attack that would ultimately cut short both his career and his life, this underrated set finds Ellis' orchestra consisting of seven brass (including tuba), four strong woodwind players, a string quartet, and an enlarged six-piece rhythm section that includes guitarist Jay Graydon and keyboardist Milcho Leviev. A special highlight is "Invincible" which is an outstanding feature for altoist Vince Denham; whatever happened to him? Ellis composed four of the eight originals including one titled "The Devil Made Me Write This Piece!"

Jazz tribute albums are a dime a dozen. Often comprising familiar, oft-recorded material, many seem indistinct. Not so Hommage à Eberhard Weber, recorded live in January of 2015 on the occasion of the bassist/composer's 75th birthday. It features a host of collaborators and friends with the SWR Big Band under the direction of Helge Sunde. With the exception of Pat Metheny's suite-like composition "Hommage," everything was written by Weber, who is esteemed for his technique and custom-built instruments and as one of the architects of "the ECM sound." He has been unable to play since suffering a debilitating stroke in 2007. Thanks to technology, he is virtually present on two of these performances…

While pianist-arranger-composer Toshiko Akiyoshi headed a fine big band in New York after moving cross-country in 1982, the orchestra that she led in Los Angeles in the 1970s was arguably her greatest accomplishment. The three-CD Mosaic Select set Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band collects all of the music originally released on the RCA albums Kogun, Long Yellow Road, Tales of a Courtesan, Insights, and March of the Tadpoles. With such major players as Akiyoshi’s husband Lew Tabackin on tenor and flute, trumpeters Bobby Shew and Don Rader, trombonist Britt Woodman and altoist Gary Foster among the many soloists in the all-star band, the orchestra could swing as hard as any of its competitors. In addition to the more boppish pieces, Akiyoshi often wrote works that displayed her Japanese heritage, utilizing Eastern harmonies and instruments along with her husband’s flute. Many of the highpoints of her career are on this perfectly conceived Mosaic release.

Don Ellis' Orchestra is heard at the peak of its powers on this Columbia LP. "Pussy Wiggle Stomp," a variation on "My dad's better than your dad" but performed in 7/4 time, became the band's theme song, and it has its riotous moments. The 19-and-a-half minute, six-part "Variations for Trumpet" is a major showcase for Ellis, "Scratt and Fluggs" is a brief bit of silliness, and the relatively straightforward "K.C. Blues" features altoist Frank Strozier, John Klemmer on tenor, and keyboardist Pete Robinson. However it is the 17-and-a-half minute "Indian Lady" (a live remake) that really finds the band going crazy. Ellis, trombonist Glen Ferris, and keyboardist Robinson play humorous solos before tenors John Klemmer and Sam Falzone engage in a long and nutty tradeoff that is often quite hilarious. The many false endings at the end of this performance add to the general atmosphere. This is a classic release.

Recorded just three months before arranger/pianist Gil Evans's death, this duet album teams Evans with the great soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy. In truth, Evans's playing here is generally little more than melody statements and comping behind Lacy. The duo performs lengthy versions of three Charles Mingus tunes, Duke Ellington's "Paris Blues" and Lacy's "Esteem."

In a word: wow. Since their 1993 debut album, the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, or E.S.T., as it is usually called, have taken the jazz world by storm, winning numerous awards, playing sold-out world tours, topping the charts, and generally enjoying a popularity that's exceeded that of almost any other jazz group in years. The trio was also the first European jazz group to grace the cover of Down Beat magazine, which led to long discussions about the heritage of jazz and the validity of European jazz; and, naturally, it caused some listeners to perceive an artificial hype and discredit the band for simply not being as brilliant as everyone says they are. Well, do yourself a favor and do not listen to the detractors - listen to E.S.T.'s music instead, and this two-hour concert recorded on November 22, 2006 in Hamburg, Germany, is an excellent place to start…

For fans of Gil Evans, Miles Davis & Jazz! Monday Nights is not only the first studio recording of the Gil Evans Orchestra in over forty years, it also offers some of the most audacious and electrifying music of the new millennium. The late Gil Evans was one of the most respected orchestrators in jazz history and his fabled collaborations with Miles Davis, including Birth of the Cool, Sketches of Spain and Porgy and Bess, set the gold standard for modern jazz arranging. Accordingly, Evans played a key role in the development of cool jazz, modal jazz, free jazz and jazz fusion.

Nuova Generazione Jazz 2021 winner and Maastricht Jazz Awards finalist Francesca Remigi is a polyhedric drummer and a visionary composer known for her international collaborations with Steve Lehman, Joachim Florent, Kris Davis and John Patitucci, with appearances at EFG London Jazz Festival 2020 and Panama Jazz Festival 2021. Her first album Il Labirinto Dei Topi was released in January 2021. The album "Il Labirinto Dei Topi" draws its inspiration from some socio-political concepts theorized by writers such as Noam Chomsky, Zygmunt Bauman, Roberto Saviano, Samuel Huntington, and aims to express some of the controversial topics and poisonous paradoxes of our time, such as the liquidity of social relationships, the decadence of the concept of “society” as perceived nowadays, the capitalist free market- based economy’s failure, the evolution of mafia-like criminal organizations, the weapons’ trade growth, the development of an almighty and unbridled individualism…

Stan Kenton's 1952 Orchestra was a very interesting transitional band, still performing some of the complex works of the prior Innovations orchestra but also starting to emphasize swing. This CD contains the rather pompous "Prologue" and Bill Holman's complex "Invention for Guitar and Trumpet" (starring guitarist Sal Salvador and trumpeter Maynard Ferguson) but also Gerry Mulligan's boppish "Young Blood" and Bill Russo's features for trumpeter Conte Candoli ("Portrait of a Count"), trombonist Frank Rosolino ("Frank Speaking") and altoist Lee Konitz ("My Lady").

The Don Ellis Orchestra really came into its own during the period covered by this CD (1966-1967), playing perfectly coherent solos in ridiculous time signatures. At the time, the band consisted of five trumpets, three trombones, five reeds, piano, three basses, two drummers, and three percussionists. "Barnum's Revenge" has the ensemble playing a satirical brand of Dixieland in 5/4, "Orientation" goes back and forth between 7/8 and 9/8, and "Upstart" is in 11/8 (three and two-thirds beats to the measure!). Somehow everything swings with Ellis, Ira Schulman (on tenor and clarinet), Dave Mackay (on piano), and Tom Scott (on saxello) being the main soloists. In addition to the original six selections (recorded at the Pacific Jazz Festival in 1966 and at Shelly's Manne-Hole in 1967), there are five additional cuts, including an alternate version of "Freedom Jazz Dance." Fun music.

Don Ellis' final record as a leader (he passed away from a bad heart in Dec. 1978) is a worthwhile effort. Ellis' large orchestra (four reeds, eight brass, one keyboard, two bassists, two drummers, two percussionists and a string quartet) performs six of the leader's originals and, although none of the songs are all that memorable, there are many fine solos. The main players are trumpeter Ellis, Ted Nash on tenor, alto and clarient and trombonist Alan Kaplan.

Coming as it did between two of Don Ellis' greatest records (Autumn and At Fillmore), New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground was a disappointment. The dozen concise performances are generally overarranged, the solos are too brief, and the melodies (with two exceptions) are not memorable. The ridiculously complex "Bulgarian Bulge" and "Eli's Coming" (which would soon join the repertoire of Maynard Ferguson) are the standouts, but the other R&B-oriented material, which often has so-so vocals by Patti Allen, is quite forgettable.

One of the most exciting new jazz big bands of the period, Ellis' ensemble became notorious for its ability to play coherently in odd time signatures. One of the four originals heard on this acclaimed outing from the 1966 Monterey Jazz Festival is titled "33 222 1 222" to show how the band manages to perform in 19/4 time. The other selections are Hank Levy's "Passacaglia And Fugue," "Concerto For Trumpet" (in 5/4) and "New Nine." In addition to the time signatures, Ellis enjoyed utilizing unusual combinations of instruments; the instrumentation on this date consists of five trumpets, three trombones, five saxes, piano, three bassists, two drummers and a percussionist. Among the more notable sidemen are a young Tom Scott (who solos on alto) and tenor-saxophonist Ira Schulman.